I have been told that two studies, one French, one German, have established the shedding period* of rabies in ferrets to be 4 to 6 days. If the Center for Disease Control in the US accepts the validity of these studies that will be a MAJOR step forward! If I find out any more, I'll be sure to post it. Bill *The shedding period is the amount of time that it takes for an animal infected with rabies to show symptoms of the disease. This is very important, since ferrets suspected of having rabies are now routinely killed since it is not known for how long they must be quarantined to be certain that rabies is not present. Generally speaking, the fact that a ferret has been vaccinated for rabies does NOT prevent the killing since the shedding period is unknown! (This is unlike cats and dogs, which are quarantined for the duration of the shedding period provided proof of vaccination can be produced). [Posted in FML issue 0251]